Donald Sterling allegations overshadow LA Clippers play-off game

John Branch

The Los Angeles Clippers, finding themselves embroiled in controversy surrounding racist remarks attributed to the team's owner, took the court for their play-off game on Sunday with a statement, both fashion and political. In sartorial signs of solidarity, players wore their shirts inside out during warm-ups, and each wore black socks and black wristbands during the game.

The owner's wife sat courtside, across from the Clippers' bench, with her husband barred from attending while the NBA investigates the matter. She wore all black.

The recordings of the remarks, apparently made by Donald Sterling, the Clippers' owner, bounced around the globe on Sunday like viral aftershocks, rattling the league's leadership, overshadowing its play-off games and even receiving the attention of President Barack Obama in Malaysia.

Related Content

But the epicentre was at Oracle Arena, where the Clippers played the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of their first-round play-off series. The teams are closely matched rivals, and although there were no clear signs that the crowd's enthusiasm and voracity had anything to do with Sterling, the story line certainly provided a boost to the energy and intrigue.

The remarks struck a nerve in the NBA, in which the majority of players are black and the majority of owners are white. That the controversy should involve a team based in Los Angeles, a diverse city with its own history of race-relation problems but one that has long revered black athletes, only added a layer of complex context.

Advertisement

As the Clippers' players quietly went through their usual pre-game routine of stretching and relaxing, trying to make the unusual circumstances feel normal, their coach stepped into a warm and crowded room. Within seven minutes, he answered 13 questions about the racist comments attributed to Sterling.

"Racism, injustice of any kind, it should always be front and centre, and we should never run from it," the Clippers' coach, Doc Rivers, said. "I think we all do a good job running from it. You should never run from it. You should confront it and try to do your best to handle it. I think we are doing our best right now in this case by trying to do that."

Sterling's wife of 50 years, Rochelle, wore an all-black outfit to the game. Photo: Getty Images

The Clippers, dressed in blue uniforms, were a stark contrast to their gold-shirted opponents and the Golden State fans, who wore free T-shirts. When the teams took the floor, Rivers embraced Warriors coach Mark Jackson. The men, who are both African-American, once played for the Clippers.

Thirteen questions on racism in seven minutes: Clippers head coach Doc Rivers admits he should have known more about Sterling's past. Photo: AP

"I see people say, 'Well, do you boycott?'" Jackson said. "No. You stand up there, and you answer questions as an African-American man, and you sound intelligent, and you carry yourself and conduct yourself to answer and let people know."

The Warriors jumped to a huge first-quarter lead. The crowd's deafening cheers were interrupted at least once by an anti-Sterling chant. A black fan held a sign over his head that read, "I'm black," while a white man next to him held one that said, "I brought a black guy to the game."

Sterling with girlfriend V. Stiviano at a Clippers game last year. Photo: AP

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has promised a quick ruling on the situation.

The audio of the remarks, first released by TMZ, purportedly catches Sterling arguing with a female friend, criticising her for posting pictures of herself online with black men, including Magic Johnson.

"This is going to get you in trouble with Grandpa Don" ... Screengrab from V. Sitiviano's instagram account with her pictured with LA Dodgers baseball star Matt Kemp. Photo: Screen grab

Sterling's longtime wife, Rochelle, last month filed a lawsuit against Stiviano, claiming that she had an affair with Sterling and that she owed the Sterlings money because Sterling had showered Stiviano with millions of dollars' worth of gifts and money.

Rivers, who played one season with the Clippers in the early 1990s, took over as their coach a year ago. He acknowledged that he knew little about Sterling's past with race relations.

In 2009, Sterling paid a record $US2.76 million ($2.97 million) to settle a housing-discrimination suit brought by the Justice Department on behalf of African-Americans, Latinos and families with children. Also in 2009, former Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor accused Sterling of racial discrimination, part of an unsuccessful lawsuit for wrongful termination.

"Really didn't know a lot about that, to be honest," Rivers said. "And probably should have."

Obama added to the dialogue when asked about the matter during a trip to Malaysia on Sunday. He condemned the "incredibly offensive racist statements" and said the words spoke for themselves.

"When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't really have to do anything," the president said. "You just let them talk."

But he said there was a need to be "clear and steady in denouncing it".

"Also (we remain) hopeful that part of why some statements like this stand out so much is because there has been a shift in how we view ourselves," Obama said.

"And he should stand up and say, 'I don't want to own a team anymore,' especially when you have African-Americans renting his apartments, coming to his games, playing for him and coaching for him.

"This is bad for everybody. It's bad for America and I'm really upset about it."

Another former NBA great, Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan, said: "As an owner, I'm obviously disgusted that a fellow team owner could hold such sickening and offensive views.

"As a former player, I'm completely outraged."

Sterling has long been derided for his frugal leadership of the Clippers, allowing them to languish in mediocrity and irrelevance for decades.

The team began in 1970 as the Buffalo Braves and then moved to San Diego as the Clippers in 1978. Sterling bought the team and moved it to Los Angeles, amid the heyday of the Lakers. The teams now share an arena, but the Clippers have always been several notches below the Lakers in terms of talent, prestige and attention.

The franchise has never come close to winning a championship. But just as the Lakers have fallen into a rebuilding phase, the Clippers are in the play-offs for the third consecutive year, the first time the franchise has done that since 1974-76.

With the Clippers the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, behind the guard play of Chris Paul, the power of forward Blake Griffin and a roster with enviable depth, a title come June is not an unrealistic goal.

"If we can pull this off all the way," Rivers said, "I think that would be a terrific message."